Love, Me
by Jules7
Summary: Ron shares a very special letter with his grandson.


TITLE: Love, Me  
  
AUTHOR: Jules  
  
RATING: PG  
  
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Nothing, do you hear me? =)  
  
SUMMARY: Ron shares a very special letter with his grandson.  
  
A/N: Songfic (of sorts) to Colin Raye's gorgeous "Love, Me". I altered the words (a bit) to make them more fluid, grammatically. Warning—I think this is sweet but sad, and there is death involved.  
  
  
  
"Granddad, what is this?"  
  
My grandfather looked across the foyer of the church and over his shoulder at me, a curious look on his wrinkled face. "What's what, Jamie?"  
  
I held up a creased, yellowed bit of parchment with smeared, ancient ink on it. Granddad took the paper from my hand and looked it over. A smile, the first I'd seen in a week, crossed his face.  
  
"I must have dropped it when we came in. James, come over here and let me tell you a story." Granddad crossed to a pair of chairs, and I joined him, eager to hear his tale. "You see, when we were younger and in school, Grandma's parents didn't exactly like me. I was a wizard, and they were a little uncomfortable with the idea, despite the fact that Grandma was a witch. I never even really met them until we were sixteen or so. I'd seen them in Diagon Alley when they dropped your grandmother off, but that was it. Over time, I won her mother over, but her father was always wary of me. But I was so in love with your grandmother that I refused to let that get in the way. We used to make all of these crazy plans to run off together and get married and settle down somewhere—she'd teach and I'd find a job writing for a newspaper."  
  
"We'd finally decided to just do it, the summer after we graduated. We were just going to take off, you know? We'd planned to meet at this orchard not far from her house—it was easier for her to get there since it was so close. When I got there, though, instead of finding your grandmother, I found this note. At first, I thought I'd been abandoned, but after I read it, I knew that eventually, she'd be there. So I waited."  
  
"Now Jamie, I realize that you may not understand what we were thinking, but you have to know how much your grandmother and I loved each other. We'd have moved Heaven and Earth to be together. We figured we'd already been through so much that this running off and getting married would be easy. Of course, it wasn't. Nothing ever was with your grandmother and I." Granddad's eyes were sparkling again, and warmth spread through me at the sight. "We eventually convinced her parents that we were truly in love and wanted to be together, and I finally got on her father's good side. We were married two months later, and I couldn't have asked for a better relationship with her parents after that. Of course, none of us ever forgot the way we'd started out, and it became a sort of joke to us all. They were wonderful people, though, and I loved them both dearly. After all, they'd given me the gift of the love of my life."  
  
Granddad sighed softly. "God, I loved her. Loved her more than anything in the world, except maybe our children. Nothing ever meant more to me than my beautiful family, and it all started with your grandmother." Granddad pulled an old picture out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was my grandparents, young and in love and so full of life. I flipped it over to check the date—the back said "Ron and Hermione, Spring 7th year." Turning the picture back over, I smiled as I watched them move—Granddad was tugging on Grandma's hand, trying to pull her away from her books. She resisted only for a moment before standing and allowing herself to be swept into Granddad's arms. I handed the photo back to Granddad and he stroked Grandma's image with shaking, wizened fingers.  
  
We sat in silence for a few minutes, both lost in thought. Granddad, I was sure, was thinking of Grandma. I was thinking about my entire family. My grandparents, who were married for over sixty years. My parents, who still loved each other as much as they had when they married. My Great Aunt Ginny and Great Uncle Harry, who I was named after, had been married almost as long as Granddad and Grandma. Still were, actually. All that love and devotion…it was staggering to a fifteen year old.  
  
The door to the sanctuary swung open, and Uncle Harry appeared. "Ron? Jamie? They're ready."  
  
I stood and offered Granddad my hand. Suddenly, my 83 year old grandfather, who'd never acted his age, seemed frail and weak. With me on one side and Uncle Harry on the other, we moved into the church and down the aisle to the altar area. I sat down on the front pew and watched Uncle Harry help Granddad to the casket. Granddad steadied himself with his hands on the sides and then unfolded the parchment and spoke.  
  
"If you get there before I do, don't give up on me. I'll meet you when my chores are through, but I don't know how long I'll be. I'm not going to let you down, darling—wait and see. Between now and then, until I see you again, I'll be loving you. Love, me."  
  
In all of my life, I'd never seen my grandfather cry. As he refolded the parchment and slipped it into his pocket, he wept. Beside him, Uncle Harry patted his shoulder before moving off to the side to take Aunt Ginny's hand.  
  
Granddad leaned close to the casket and laid a gentle kiss on Grandma's forehead. "I love you, Hermione. Remember to wait for me. I'll meet you when I'm done here, love." He turned away from the casket then and sat down on the pew beside me, tears still silently flowing.  
  
We buried my grandmother that day, and exactly a week later, my grandfather passed away. At his funeral, I read the letter he'd carried with him for so long. Just before they closed the casket, I slipped the note into my Granddad's pocket so that when he found Grandma waiting for him in Heaven, he'd be able to tell her that he'd not given up on her.  
  
They hadn't let each other down. 


End file.
